Gucci collectors will soon have a new way to value and sell their objects. The NY Times reports that Christie's will be teaming up with Gucci on a new project to help Gucci fight online counterfeiting. A Gucci museum will open in Florence in 2011 and a website dedicated to evaluating Gucci goods will launch by the end of the year. The "Gucci Collector" site from Christie's, will include a section where people can upload vintage items and get an appraisal. Christie's and Gucci are both part of the luxury megagroup PPR. In addition to providing a service for collectors both the museum and the online website will help preserve the history of the brand. It may also help collectors research potential acquisitions and avoid getting taken in by counterfeits.

Like this shoe? I hope you have an iPhone.

Mark Ronson collaborated with Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini to design this exclusive beaut for the launch of the new Gucci iPhone App, as well as a new Gucci pop-up shop tour called GUCCI ICON-TEMPORARY.

If you haven't heard of pop-up shops, they're designer stores which exist for just a couple of weeks -- sort of like a trunk show, only it's way more involved, and there's way more money involved, as they open up a whole store. Big name designers have been opening these kinds of stores all over the world.

GUCCI ICON-TEMPORARY will open up to the public October 24 in NYC on Crosby Street and peddle sneakers for just two weeks. The store will then tour to Miami (December 1st), London (2010) and Tokyo (2010). If you're in the US, one model of the Gucci Ronson sneaker collection will be available only to iPhone and iTouch users who've downloaded the Gucci App (click here, it's free).

The Gucci App also features music playlists by Ronson and Giannini, as well as access to the Gucci Little Black Book, which has "best-of information for hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs in more than 20 major cities around the world. Also included in this section is a list of Giannini's own favorite spots around the world," and the Gucci Music Channel.

We love it when music and fashion collide.

"I spent many many years as an avid sneaker collector, so I wanted to make sure these Gucci shoes were truly special, both from an aesthetic point of view and a collectible one," says Ronson. "Frida and I also agreed it was important for there to be a unique musical element to the project, so I'm going to be collaborating with artists, making limited edition tracks for each store opening."

The Gucci Ronson sneakers will come with their own exclusive packaging and a 12" vinyl record with tracks selected by Mark Ronson himself. Visit the GUCCI ICON-TEMPORARY website for more information.

Designers are in the midst of a heated argument at Milan fashion week-whether one should dress for sex or dress for abstinence in a global recession. Seems a fitting debate in a country where the famously womanizing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Pope Benedict XVI are its two most powerful leaders

On the celibate team sits Miuccia Prada, who practices restraint on a regular basis (well, by Italian standards). She further reigned in her collection (well, by Prada standards) to include charcoal knee-length walking shorts, Fifties-style swimwear and demure day dresses. The ever quirky Marni showed knee-length shorts and paired them with thick-strapped shoes with thick soles worn with beige ankle socks (I can hear my boyfriend's protests now). Roberto Cavalli went AWOL from his I'm-too-sexy position in the marketplace, putting out modest peasant dresses with hems stopping mid-calf.

Then again, sex sells. Versace stayed true to form. Sex, sex and more sex with Donatella's brand of cigarettes afterward, thank you. Slits cut up to there. Necklines cut down to there. Cut-outs revealing erogenous zones. Towering stilettos. Short, short, short. (Definitely more my boyfriend's speed, I'm guessing.)

Here is a watch for women to support women. The popular Gucci Twirl watch has just been made even more a watch for women by creating a special edition Gucci Twirl F.F.A.W.N. timepiece. FFAWN is the Foundation For the Advancement of Women, and for each of these watches that are sold, Gucci will give $100 to the foundation.

Oddly enough Gucci combines its giving to the foundation with the creation of a phantom watch - meaning it is in all black. This has been a popular style for men's watches, but I only now am seeing it applied to women's watches of this caliber. The timepiece is in black stainless steel with a spinning (twirling) watch face dial. The face is also in all black and surrounded by 34 black diamonds. The watch movement is a Swiss quartz. The caseback of the watch reads "Gucci for F.F.A.W.N." An interesting interpretation of the iconic looking timepiece.

Just what FFAWN does is a bit of a mystery to me. It was started by singer Mary J. Blige to help women reach their potential. The foundation gives grants and scholarships and has programs for women to help improve their self esteem and achieve various levels of personal and professional development. The Gucci for FFAWN Twirl watch retails for $1,895.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gucci's 'Journal' Evening Bag looks bejeweled from afar but it's really just simple black leather with multicolor (metallic?) embroidery. It would go perfectly with a little black dress, and it's so thin (and it looks soft!) that even without a shoulder strap it seems easy enough to carry around and hold onto. It has ruthenium hardware, magnetic snap closure, and one interior pocket. This is my favorite of all the 2009 Gucci Fall Collection of bags, although there are several other designs (like the group) that come in a close second. $1,590

The sleek Gucci watch shown at right is a chic bauble for a good cause. Fashion Week Daily reports that Gucci will be hosting a charity cocktail night during New York's Fashion Week with Mary J. Blige. The limited-edition black PVD twirl watch which features a face framed in black diamonds will be sold to benefit Blige's foundation: The Foundation for the Adavancement of Women Now or FFAWN. The watch will sell for $1,895 and debuts at Gucci's Fifth Avenue store on September 16. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Blige's charity.

Like the United States, the United Arab Emirates, wants to encourage young drivers to wear their seatbelts. But the UAE has a unique approach to their nationwide safety campaign. Instead of an ad campaign and the fear of tickets they are creating the Fashionable Seatbelt campaign which will be launched after Ramadan. Seatbelts will be covered with images of the national flag, sports logos and logos of fashion houses like Gucci. Figures from the Health Authority Abu Dhabi say that only 11 percent of Emiratis wear their seatbelts. Designers will be invited to submit ideas for the seatbelts and the plan is to eventually have the color of your seatbelt as something that is chosen when you pick out your car. It seems like an interesting idea but knowing how notoriously litigious Gucci and other luxury brands are when ti comes to protecting their intellectual property, I think that the campaign might have a tough time using the fashion logos.

[Thanks, Ben!]

One of my favorite colors done up in beautifully deep shades and hues, this 'Galaxy' Shoulder Bag by Gucci is a lean, mean fashion statement that will leave others green with envy (sorry, couldn't resist). Made of green shaded python with black patent leather trim, this bag catches the light and keeps it. Other features include ruthenium and plexiglass hardware, interlocking "G" details on each side. a single braided leather chain strap, zip top closure, and pockets inside for your cell phone, PDA, and other accessories. $3500

DJ Mark Ronson is getting into his sister Charlotte's business, fashion design. Mark Ronson will be designing sneakers for Gucci's new pop-up stores, Gucci Icon-Temporary. The stores, devoted to sneakers, are expected to be around for just a couple of weeks. Stores will sell a collection of 18 sneaker styles and each store will feature one design by Mark Ronson. He told WWD that he is an avid sneaker collector and welcomed the chance to design his own. Those who buy Ronson's designs will also receive a 12" vinyl LP record featuring limited edition tracks. Sneakers in the stores will sell for $500 to $1,400. The first will appear in New York City on Crosby Street. Other locations will include London, Berlin, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and the Art Basel Miami Beach event.

Feeling lucky as the holiday weekend begins? Ideeli is doing another of their giveaways guaranteed to keep fashion lovers checking their computers this weekend. They are giving away a Jimmy Choo purse today, a Christian Louboutin clutch tomorrow and a Gucci bag on Sunday. In addition they are running one of their Red Sales that includes a variety of cocktail and sundresses for summer nights. You can sign up here.

The luxury shift toward the East continues especially for the larger brands. Gucci recently opened its 28th store in China and plans to open two to four more stores this year in China. In a Reuters article Gucci CEO Patrizio Di Marco said that Gucci wants to have 40 stores in China within the next few years. Instead of scaling back, they are pushing forward and he says that "to have 28 stores, or to think of having 40 stores, is not excessive at all." Gucci's leather goods sales have continued to rise; sales of Gucci-branded products in China, Hong Kong and Macao went up 41.5 percent in 2008 and Gucci is hoping that Chinese consumers will be the new engine to power the luxury market.

Gucci has also created a special bag just for the Shanghai market. Check out an image here.

Gucci's new chief executive officer, Patrizio di Marco has unveiled his strategy for the Italian brand's future. His strategy includes cutting production and multiple variations of the same style and solidifying the mid-range of the brand. Di Marco, who comes to Gucci from another PPR-owned company luxury leather brand Bottega Veneta, wants to balance contemporary fashion with the Gucci traditions, emphasizing craftsmanship and quality. Di Marco is also behind the lawsuit filed against Guess? Inc. last month.

Driving Gucci sales currently is the revival of the Jackie bag by creative director Frida Giannini. The bag which was named for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sells for around $3,000 has received fashion acclaim this season. Di Marco has nothing but praise for Giannini he is quoted by Bloomberg as saying that she "knows how to balance the fashion elements with Gucci's heritage," Di Marco and Giannini, shown above, represent the continuation of the Gucci aesthetic fine-tuned by Tom Ford in the 1990s, chic and soigné with a dash of lethal sexy.

Guess has created handbags that ape the looks of designer bags for far less money for years but Gucci has had enough. Bloomberg reports that Gucci Group's U.S. unit is suing Guess? Inc. for trademark infringement. The companies both make ample use of the "g" logo and both do interlocking G pattens and embossed leather (or in Guess's case, vinyl).

Gucci's lawsuit claims that the knockoffs are no homage but are instead "part of a sophisticated and elaborate scheme to target Gucci, to create products that are similar in appearance to the most popular and best-known Gucci products." Gucci is seeking damages as well as a court order banning Guess from using the disputed designs and calling for surrender of all the existing bags in question.

Copying has become commonplace in the fashion world especially when a lower-priced line imitates a more expensive brand. It becomes a question of just how similar the designs are and whether or not the lookalike handbags and wallets are damaging the Gucci brand.

This shiny, adorable bag is the new Gucci D Gold Large Hobo.

This purse is already so popular that Saks will only allow you to order three units every thirty days. The hobo is 15"W X 10"H X 6¼"D with a single 6½" drop handle. The 80's reminiscent shape is crafted from a crystal lamé and accentuated with metallic leather edges and trim. The bold, golden hardware completes the sheer decadence of this look. We especially love the soft gathering at the base of the purse, which lends elegance to its casual shape.

Metallic neutrals like this can be carried with a wide array of colors -- and are particularly lovely with pastels -- but even black is well complemented by brown this season.

The Gucci D Gold Large Hobo is available for pre-order from Saks Fifth Avenue for $790.

Fancy backpacks, so beloved in the late 1990s, may be back in fashion. Gucci is certainly trying to make it happen with their new large leather backpack which offers a bit more room than the previous smaller incarnations. The bag has interchangeable hobo straps, front zip pockets and interior cell phone and PDA zip pockets and can be either carried as a hobo or worn as a backpack . You can pre-order at Neiman Marcus for $2,590.